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Wall Township, NJ – Jackson, NJ’s Kyle Scisco and Pine Hill, NJ’s Joey Merlino were big winners in NASCAR Modified Twin 35 lap races on Saturday night at Wall Stadium in a program sponsored by Schultz Racing Products. For both racers it was the first win of the season and for Merlino it was an emotional first career Modified victory. Howell, NJ’s Blake Barney also enjoyed the spotlight as his fourth and second place finishes earned him a highly collectible watch from long-time speedway supporter Mertens Jewelers in Manasquan, NJ.In the first 35 lap race Tyler Truex of Mayetta, NJ rocketed to the initial lead and fought off Bryan O’Shea of Neptune City, NJ through a handful of cautions throughout the first 14 laps. Jackson, NJ’s Steven Reed then advanced to second and hounded Truex as Scisco throttled his way into the top five.
By lap 18 Scisco, who was forced to head pit side after being involved in one of the early incidents, charged into third spot before slipping into second at lap 20. Scisco then shadowed Truex before slipping into the lead on lap 26. Scisco then raced on to the win as Reed dove to the inside lane on lap 33 to steal away the runner-up from Truex. Barney was fourth and Howell, NJ’s James Blewett was fifth.
“I just have to thank our sponsors and all of our fans for sticking with us,” Scisco said. “We’ve suffered mechanical trouble, on track trouble and we deal with some tough competition. This win is well earned by everyone who supports this team. I am just lucky enough to drive this car.”
The second NASCAR Modified 35 lapper was slowed by only one caution as Merlino took full advantage of a front row starting spot to race into the lead at the outset. Merlino first fought off Wall, NJ’s Tyler Ferris before O’Shea moved to second and went on the attack. Barney soon rode third before advancing to second on lap 22. Two more laps were completed before the only caution of the test bunched the field for a late race restart.
Once back to action Barney taunted Merlino as Howell, NJ’s Jimmy Blewett charged into third. The top three raced those final laps in tight formation, while O’Shea and Reed wrapped up the top five.
“We’ve been working so hard for so long to get this win. My dad and my crew work so hard,” Merlino, whose mother Sherry passed away during the past off season, said. “I wanted to win this race for my mom so bad. When I saw that we were starting on the front row I asked her to help me and she did. My mom was riding with me tonight.”
After Nick Catone, Jim Hall and Patrick Force took turns leading the O’Shea’s Auto Repair Factory Stock 25 lap race early, Howell, NJ’s Brian Osborn made the ultimate comeback from a wreck the week before to take the lead and eventual win Saturday night. Chris Lane and Johnny Carpenter charged from deep in the field for second and third. Alex Rogers and Elliott Wohl were fourth and fifth.
Neil Rutt III of Toms River, NJ and defending champ TJ Graves of Wall, NJ wrestled for the top spot most of the way before Rutt nailed down the win in the 25 lap Surfside Collision 4 Cylinder Stock main event. Cory Carr, Billy Pross and Jason Lane were third, fourth and fifth.
Patrick Force crossed the finish line first in the 25 lap race for the visiting Dirt Outlaw Stocks, but failed to pass the post race inspection handing the win to Mike Baldwin. Christopher Allen Sr, Nick Kilmer, Darren Cox and Mike Berkeyheiser were second through fifth.
Wall Stadium will return to action this Saturday night, September 19. The NASCAR Modified cars return as they compete in a 40 lap main event with the O’Shea’s Auto Repair Factory Stocks racing in the 51 lap John Webber Memorial. The Accurate Tree Service Sportsman, Natural Design Co. Legend Cars and Sunday Series Micro Stocks will also be in action.
Pit Gates will open at 1pm, Practice will start at 3pm when the grandstand gates unlock, Qualifying is at 5:00pm with main events starting at 6:30pm. Adult (18+) admission is $25, Seniors & Military w/ID are $20, Kids (7-17) are $15 while Children 6 & Under are Free.
Wall Stadium is located on Route 34 in Wall Township, N.J., just one mile north of Garden State Parkway exit 98 and Interstate 195 exit 35B. Visit wall-stadium.com for info and updates. The speedway hotline number is 732-681-6400 and email address is wallstadiuminfo@gmail.com.
NASCAR Modified Results Feature 1 (35 Laps): 1. 31-Kyle Scisco[9]; 2. 56-Tyler Truex[1]; 3. 55-Steven Reed[7]; 4. 14-Blake Barney[6]; 5. 76-James Blewett[14]; 6. 27-Bryan O’Shea[3]; 7. 7-Tyler Ferris[8]; 8. 44-Joey Merlino[16]; 9. 49-Dakota Kessler[17]; 10. 74-Jonathan Laureigh[12]; 11. 9-Tom Martino Jr[4]; 12. 17-Derek Hopkinson[5]; 13. 24-Jimmy Blewett[11]; 14. 43-Ron Frees[10]; 15. 51-Zach Lenardo[15]; 16. 24L-Chris Lane[13]; 17. 38-Jarret DiGiantomasso[2]
NASCAR Modified Results Feature 2 (35 Laps): 1. 44-Joey Merlino[1]; 2. 14-Blake Barney[5]; 3. 24-Jimmy Blewett[13]; 4. 27-Bryan O’Shea[3]; 5. 55-Steven Reed[6]; 6. 7-Tyler Ferris[2]; 7. 76-James Blewett[4]; 8. 31-Kyle Scisco[8]; 9. 56-Tyler Truex[7]; 10. 49-Dakota Kessler[9]; 11. 74-Jonathan Laureigh[10]; 12. (DNF) 43-Ron Frees[14]; 13. (DNF) 51-Zach Lenardo[15]; 14. (DNF) 17-Derek Hopkinson[12]; 15. (DNS) 38-Jarret DiGiantomasso; 16. (DNS) 24L-Chris Lane; 17. (DNS) 9-Tom Martino Jr
O’Shea’s Auto Repair Factory Stock Results (25 Laps): 1. 15-Brian Osborn[5]; 2. 88-Chris Lane[10]; 3. 82-John Carpenter[11]; 4. 4-Alex Rogers[4]; 5. 17-Elliott Wohl[8]; 6. 44-Jared Okerson[12]; 7. 18-Patrick Force[9]; 8. 31-James Hall IV[3]; 9. 09-Scott Riggleman[7]; 10. 5B-Nick Bilello[6]; 11. 98-Nick Catone[1]; 12. 51-Ryan Maher[2]; 13. 4M-Stephen Michel[16]; 14. 27H-Kaitlyn Hankins[15]; 15. 49-Jared Okerson II[14]; 16. 89-Nancy Riggleman[17]; 17. 43-Lakota Ade[13]
Surfside Collision 4-Cylinder Results (25 Laps): 1. 11-Neil Rutt III[6]; 2. 9NJ-TJ Graves[3]; 3. 18T-Cory Carr[5]; 4. 5-William Pross[7]; 5. 01-Jason Lane[11]; 6. 82-Doug Ashford[9]; 7. 94-Brian Ludwig[14]; 8. 21-Joe Pressey[13]; 9. 24T-Kevin Carr[8]; 10. 88-Steven Reaves[15]; 11. (DNF) 15-Joe Warren[4]; 12. (DNF) 71-Bill Schwarz[10]; 13. (DNF) 69-Frank Deangelis[12]; 14. (DNF) 27-Stephen Forgus IV[1]; 15. (DNF) 58-Luke Zappulla[2]; 16. (DNF) 52-Christopher Hankins[16]; 17. (DNS) 82C-Jalena Carpenter
Dirt Outlaw Stock Results (25 Laps): 1. Mike Baldwin[4]; 2. 1-Christopher Allen Sr[5]; 3. 72-Nick Kilmer[6]; 4. 92-Darren Cox[2]; 5. 29-Mike Berkeyheiser[3]; 6.. 17-Shane Grasso[7]; 7. 5-Mark Cooper[9]; 8. (DNS) 54-Ken Price; DQ Patrick Force.
